1 Dead After 2 Small Planes Collide Mid-Air Near Winter Haven Airport

WINTER HAVEN, FL — One person is confirmed dead, authorities said, after two small planes collided Tuesday around 2:04 p.m. above Lake Hartridge just east of the Winter Haven Regional Airport.

The collision happened in the air above the end of one of the runways, and both planes plunged into a lake.

"It happened right above the lake and it was an in-air collision and both planes immediately went to the water," Polk County Sheriff Chief of Staff Steve Lester said.

Lester said one of the planes sank 21 feet to the bottom of the lake. The other is visible just below the surface of the lake.

Winter Haven police and firefighters are being assisted by the Polk County Sheriff's Office and Polk County Fire Rescue in what Lester said they're still calling a search-and-rescue effort.

"I can tell you emphatically that we have at least one person deceased," Lester said, confirming that the person died despite a CPR effort.

However, he said that beyond the two pilots, they don't know how many people were in the planes.

Lester, who said they were still obtaining information on the origin of the planes and who was piloting them, said the lake is being searched by boat and air.

"As soon as we confirm the information, we're going to let you have it. It's just much too important information to give you false information," Lester said during a news conference at the crash site.

Both the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are on their way to the scene to investigate the crash.